1. Field of the Invention.
The invention relates to articles such as gloves or pouches for handling and enclosing waste and, more particularly, to an article for handling and enclosing waste materials which may be noxious or infectious in a manner which poses a minimal possibility of the user coming in contact with either the waste materials or with portions of the waste handling article which have been in contact with the waste materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
A critical need has arisen in recent years for providing means for handling waste materials which may have been in contact with or contain human blood or other bodily fluids. It is important that means be provided for handling and containing such waste materials for disposal with minimum risk of the waste coming into direct contact with a human being in order to prevent the spread of diseases which may be transmitted via bodily fluids.
A number of waste-handling articles have been proposed in which a glove or mitt-like article is first used to pick up the waste and then is "everted" (turned inside out) to enclose the waste. These waste handling articles may then be tied up or sealed in some manner to provide a container for disposal of the waste. Examples of such waste handling articles may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,186,445; 4,768,818; 3,596,798; 4,034,853; 4,788,733; and 4,677,697. None of these waste handling articles are, however, specifically adapted for the handling of waste materials which have the possibility of being highly noxious or infectious. Consequently, the use of these prior art waste handling articles is believed to present some risk that the user will either come in contact with the waste material or those fluids contained in the waste material may leak from the waste handling article after containment.
A waste handling article which has been designed particularly for the handling and disposal of waste materials containing bodily fluids or the like is a combination glove/pouch made of a plastic material which has a pair of opposing tabs at its opening. These tabs are made of boardstock to which the glove is attached. Adhesive material, protected by a paper strip, is deposited on one of the glove/tab surfaces. In operation, one of the user's hands is put inside the waste handling article through its opening. The contaminated waste is then grasped by this covered hand. Next the hand is withdrawn through the opening past the tabs thereby turning the article inside out. Finally, the paper strip is removed from the adhesive and the adhesive coated tab is pressed against the uncoated glove/tab to seal the contaminated article inside the pouch which has been formed by turning the glove inside out. This prior art waste handling article is illustrated in FIG. 1. It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the edges 2 and 2' of the tabs 1 of the article must be separated so as to allow the adhesive coated side of the tab to flip 180 degrees around connecting hinges 4 and 4'. This allows the tabs to become positioned inside of the pouch created when the glove portion 3 of the article is turned inside out. Several problems may be caused by this configuration. Firstly, because the two tabs are separated by openings they may have a tendency to flip into an unwanted state and to be generally unwieldy during operation of the waste handling article. Secondly, the two tabs are only minimally connected by hinges. This makes it relatively easy to misallign the strips of adhesive strip when the glove is everted. Non-alignment of this adhesive strip may result in improper sealing of the pouch, especially in the region of the edges 2 and 2' of the tabs 1.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore to provide a waste handling article which may be conveniently used to handle waste materials and to contain these materials in a protective pouch for disposal without exposing the user to direct contact to the waste materials or any contaminated surface.
It is a further object of the invention that means be provided for sealing the pouch which prevents any fluids contained in the waste materials from leaking from the pouch after sealing.
It is a further object of the invention that the above article be relatively inexpensive and simple to manufacture.
It is yet a further object of the invention that the above article be easy to use.